Is there a way that UAF staff can cash out sick leave?

January 10, 2018

University Relations

I've been a university staff employee for almost 20 years. I don't have kids and I'm generally pretty healthy. I don't take many sick days. As a result, I have almost a year and a half of sick leave available in my sick leave bank. I'll be retiring in the next year and from what I can see, when I retire my sick leave balance will return to the university's general fund. I feel I'm getting a bit of a raw deal because I'm healthy and don't have kids. I worked for those sick leave hours, but it appears I won't get the benefits of them. Is there a way I can cash at least some of those hours out? Is it possible that the policy could be changed so that sick leave hours over a certain amount — say a year's worth of hours — could be cashed out?

I'm frustrated that, in the current system, I'll leave soooo much on the table when I retire.